


The Frog Incident

by jaryjaryjaric



Category: The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
Genre: Angst, Aric needs a hug, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frogs, Hate on Rhian, I really don't like Rhian, Japeth and Aric are little gremlins, Japeth needs a hug, Jaric, M/M, Panic Attacks, Small Jaric, They Can Hug Eachother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29524734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaryjaryjaric/pseuds/jaryjaryjaric
Summary: Arbed House was never a very pleasant place. It was full of repressed Neverboys who thought that basic manners were beneath them and enjoyed causing all sorts of trouble for their teacher. Neither Japeth nor Aric were exempt from this.Or, small Jaric prank Rhian.
Relationships: Aric/Japeth (The School for Good and Evil)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The Frog Incident

The Frog Incident

Arbed House was never a very pleasant place. It was full of repressed Neverboys who thought that basic manners were beneath them and enjoyed causing all sorts of trouble for their teacher. Neither Japeth nor Aric were exempt from this. 

One of their favourite things to do together was to tease Rhian, which they did constantly, much to his dismay. They could draw countless hours of entertainment from his various reactions and did so with great enthusiasm. Sometimes, more often than not, their little games would end with them getting into trouble. But they could handle a scolding. It was always worth it to see Rhian go red in the face and stamp his foot in frustration as they laughed at him. 

One day, while scheming, they decided it would be a funny idea to drop a frog down the back of his shirt. Excited, they spent the remainder of the day devising a plan while they waited for night to fall before sneaking out of the house and running down to the nearby pond. 

It was about as hard as one would expect to catch a frog in the dark. At one point, Aric tripped over a log and toppled into the water, pulling Japeth in after him. This distracted them both and they started up a water fight. At first, they were just splashing around, giggling, but soon enough they got competitive and began tackling each other, wrestling in the shallow water. Both were determined to beat the other and completely forgot their original goal, almost certainly scaring away all the frogs around them.

Finally, after eventually getting back on track and quite a lot more hunting than would have originally been necessary, they got their hands on a little green frog. It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that they trudged their way back up the hill to the house, dripping wet and totally exhausted. They were both grinning like madmen, clutching each other's hands as they eagerly anticipated the next day. 

***

If they weren't so excited they definitely would've been falling asleep at the breakfast table. Japeth was talking to Rhian, distracting him as per the plan, while Aric snuck quietly up behind him with the frog hidden behind his back. He sent a wink in Japeth's direction before pulling the collar of Rhian's shirt and dropping it in.

Rhian’s eyes grew wide and he practically flew out of his chair, yelping in surprise. His arms flailed around as he began hopping back and forth in what looked like some sort of odd dance across the room. Much to the amusement of all the other boys.

Japeth and Aric, in particular, were absolutely beside themselves. They couldn't stop laughing as they watched the scene unfold. Their sides began aching and Japeth slipped out of his chair, wheezing. 

Dean Brunhilde, who had been sitting at the head of the table trying to enjoy her porridge, snapped her eyes to the two troublemakers, immediately knowing them to be the culprits. However, her menacing glare went completely unnoticed as they continued to laugh themselves silly. Her chair screeched as she stood abruptly and went to try and help Rhian. But before she could do so much as grab him, the frog had found its way out the top of his shirt and jumped directly onto her face. She shrieked indignantly and stumbled backward, tripping on her skirt and falling over. On her way down, she knocked the table, upsetting some of the plates and cutlery, bringing them down on top of her.

At this, Japeth and Aric lost it even more. Both boys positively cackled as they watched their teacher attempt to get the porridge out of her hair. Soon they were both on the floor finding it hard to breathe, not aware that Brunhilde had gotten herself up and was now stalking towards them, a vein pulsing angrily in her temple and her expression murderous. 

She grabbed both boys by the ear and brought them to their feet. "Your behaviour is disgusting," she spat in a low tone, scowling down at them. "You know we don't approve of that kind of thing here." The voice she spoke with made most of the other boys flinch, glad to not be on the receiving end. Japeth and Aric, for their part, couldn't care less and continued to snicker quietly, looking the Dean in the eyes and daring her to get even more worked up. She huffed in frustration and dragged them over to Rhian, who had gone to sit in the corner and pout. "What you did was terrible and you hurt your friend's feelings. Your brother’s even. I want you both to apologise to Rhian for what you did right away." 

In response, Aric scrunched his face up in disgust and Japeth defiantly stuck his tongue out at her.

This set her off. "Right!" She declared, tugging the boys out the door, much to their confusion. "I've had enough of you two. You need to learn your lesson and nothing I've done so far has done any good," she continued reprimanding them as she led them up the stairs. "You two need some time to yourselves to think about your actions. You encourage each other far too much."

Without waiting for objections she pushed the boys into two separate rooms and locked the doors. "I'll be back when you're ready to take responsibility for what you did and apologize.” 

This was not part of the plan. Sure, they expected to be told off, maybe even lose dessert privileges, but they'd never been separated before. They found they didn't like it one bit.

Aric immediately began banging on the door, yelling angrily to be let out. Japeth kicked the door bitterly before focusing his attention on trying to pick the lock. Both actions proved useless and only served to further irritate the boys. 

They needed to get out. In the time that they had spent together at Arbed House, they had come to rely quite a lot on each other, finding they cared for each other far more than they had for anyone else in their entire lives. Life hadn’t been especially kind to the young boys, but they managed to find safety in each other. Being apart didn't sit well with either of them.

Aric let his hands fall and he clenched his fist, trying to hold back tears of frustration. He dropped to the floor in defeat and half-heartedly punched the wall beside him.

Memories suddenly flashed across his mind. Thoughts of the cave where his mother had left him. Cold, lonely nights where he waited hopelessly for her return. He never liked these memories, they made him feel empty. Being around Japeth usually helped keep them to the back of his mind but now, with his absence, they came back with a vengeance. His body began shaking and he tugged restlessly at his hair. He knew he was overreacting. Of course he could be alone, he’d been so his entire life. It shouldn’t be new to him. But still, he couldn’t help it. His breathing gradually grew more uneven as he curled into himself. He trembled uncontrollably and could no longer help the tears that spilled down his red cheeks. He screamed out in frustration, kicking at the door vehemently. He choked on a sob, holding his head in his hands and wishing more than anything for Japeth to be there next to him.

Across the hall, Japeth wasn’t faring much better. He sat stiffly with his back against the door, staring a hole into the floorboards at his feet. He was acutely aware of each erratic beat his heart made in his chest. It made him uncomfortable and restless but he couldn’t find the strength to will himself to move. He was scared. To tell the truth he had become attached to Aric. And now, the idea of being apart from him absolutely terrified him. Even Rhian, his twin brother and the person who he had been with from the second he was born, hardly even came close to the amount he cared for Aric. To be honest, he despised his brother. Rhian had never liked Aric, something which he made sure Japeth knew and something Japeth found made him hate Rhian just a bit more with every passing day. But unlike Rhian, he needed Aric, desperately. He had never felt more alone than he did in this moment. He couldn’t stand the feelings running through him. He couldn’t afford to lose Aric. 

The rest of the day passed slowly. Painfully so. It crept along at a snail’s pace, leaving the two boys to stew in their misery for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, the light that poured through their small windows turned orange as the sun began to set. It was at this time that Brunhilde made her way back up the stairs. She checked on each boy respectively, proposing the same offer. An apology in exchange for dinner. Their answers were the same. Both too stubborn to give into her. So, they were left to suffer. Night fell and they sat in the dark. Their small breaths the only thing to fill the silence. 

Morning came, bringing with it the chirping of birds, sparkling dewdrops and the loud banging of Brunhilde on the doors that jolted the boys from their fitful sleep. Through the thick wood, they could faintly hear the clanging of her keyring as she moved to unlock them. Finally, they were set free from their hell. As soon as the doors opened they immediately sprinted off in search of each other, launching into a bone-crushing hug the second they locked eyes. For the rest of the day, they clutched onto each other as if their lives depended on it. Adamantly refusing to leave the other’s side for anything. 

As more days passed, they continued to remain firmly glued together, which irked Brunhilde somewhat as it made some things more difficult than they needed to be. Though there was a bright side, she contemplated one afternoon as she sat in her office, sipping delicately at a cup of tea. Ever since that night, an odd quiet had descended on the house and the two boys had completely stopped their usual tricks and scheming, choosing instead to sit quietly together away from the other boys. It was such a relief. Brunhilde grinned in satisfaction at the development. Finally, she had broken them. Now they were fully on their way to being the reformed Everyboys she strived to make them. To think, she had written them off as lost causes. It had all turned out far easier than she had ever anticipated.

The aforementioned boys were currently sitting together in the garden, hidden from the sun by the shade of an old tree. A far cry from the unruly troublemakers they had been not even a week earlier. Japeth let out a small sigh, squeezing Aric’s hand in search of reassurance as the sun slowly fell in the sky. Aric replied in turn, squeezing harder than probably necessary, giving him a warm smile.

He wasn’t going anywhere.

***

It was little over a week before their antics picked back up again, almost as if nothing had happened. The boys had taken the liberty of sneaking around the house and breaking the locks on every window they could reach, ensuring that the next time they were separated they could easily escape and find each other again. Which happened a lot now with the dean’s new souring attitude. 

Their favourite thing to do in those times was to sit on the roof together and watch the sunset, huddled behind the chimney completely hidden from the world. They would laugh about the dean’s pitiful attempts to stop their mischief. She could try all she wanted to separate them but they would never let anyone tear them apart ever again.

Still, they held each other a little tighter. Just in case.


End file.
